Meditation and stress

All of us experience stress in life and each of us has certain triggers that tend to prompt a stress response. One of my triggers is traveling. I have a way of forgetting stuff I need when I travel and the very fact that such forgetfulness is habitual causes me to experience stress in getting ready because I'm trying so hard not to forget anything. (Yes, I traveled to Norman last night for the Convention of the Diocese of Oklahoma and so this is rather on my mind!) So I want to share with you another passage from the question and answer page of The World Wide Online Meditation Center website:

How does mindfulness meditation physically relieve stress? In other words, what goes on in the body during mindfulness? Does it reduce the production of stress hormones? Does it decrease blood pressure? Why and how does it work to relieve stress?

ANSWER:
Mindfulness Meditation - as well as other methods of meditation - reduces stress in a number of ways, although the entire process is interconnected.

First, the deep relaxation of body and mind allows the body's muscles to let go of tension, and the mind's "muscles" to release the negatively charged energies of accumulated stress. This also gives the nervous system a break from its constant rapid-fire mode.

Yes, the blood pressure is lowered, and the release of stress hormones are decreased. This is largely due to the relaxation of the fight or flight mechanism centered in the cerebellum.

At a deeper level of this process is the expansion of consciousness, in a very literal sense. Expansion equates with relaxation and release, while contraction equals tension and holding. Energy follows consciousness, so when consciousness expands in meditation, the entire body-mind system follows suit, letting go of both surface and deeply rooted stress.

As mindfulness develops in meditation, the practitioner begins to bring a greater degree of the calm mindful state into daily life, which is a major key to stress prevention.

For the meditator, even if stress is experienced with certain triggers, the response is less intense than it would be if the person didn't meditate at all. What's even more beneficial is applying the meditative process for working skillfully with the stress response while it is happening. The ability to accept any feeling without judgment - without condemning it or justifying it - and then to bring the mind back to the present moment, to the task at hand, is wonderfully powerful.

Don't expect meditation to eliminate stress altogether. But you can certainly count on it giving you the skills to manage the stress effectively and beneficially throughout your life.